The Study
Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
This study gave some women a special diet and others a regular one to see if eating less fat and more veggies would stop heart problems. After many years, both groups had about the same number of heart issues — so the special diet didn’t help much.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave thousands of older women a special diet with less fat and more veggies, fruits, and grains to see if it would prevent heart attacks and strokes.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 548 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The changes in cholesterol and blood pressure were very small and didn't lead to fewer heart attacks or strokes.
- 2Fat intake went down by 8.2%, veggies/fruits up by 1.1 servings/day, grains up by 0.5 servings/day.
- 3LDL cholesterol dropped by 3.55 mg/dL, blood pressure dropped by 0.31 mm Hg.
- 4But heart attacks and strokes didn't go down.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
JAMA
Year
2006
Authors
Barbara V. Howard, Linda Van Horn, Judith Hsia, JoAnn E. Manson, Marcia L. Stefanick, Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Lewis H. Kuller, Andrea Z. LaCroix, Robert D. Langer, Norman L. Lasser, Cora E. Lewis, Marian C. Limacher, Karen L. Margolis, W. Jerry Mysiw, Judith K. Ockene, Linda M. Parker, Michael G. Perri, Lawrence Phillips, Ross L. Prentice, John Robbins, Jacques E. Rossouw, Gloria E. Sarto, Irwin J. Schatz, Linda G. Snetselaar, Victor J. Stevens, Lesley F. Tinker, Maurizio Trevisan, Mara Z. Vitolins, Garnet L. Anderson, Annlouise R. Assaf, Tamsen Bassford, Shirley A. A. Beresford, Henry R. Black, Robert L. Brunner, Robert G. Brzyski, Bette Caan, Rowan T. Chlebowski, Margery Gass, Iris Granek, Philip Greenland, Jennifer Hays, David Heber, Gerardo Heiss, Susan L. Hendrix, F. Allan Hubbell, Karen C. Johnson, Jane Morley Kotchen
Related Content
Claims (10)
If you eat less saturated fat (like butter or fatty meat) but still eat lots of white bread, sugary snacks, or refined carbs, it probably won’t make your heart any healthier or lower your risk of heart disease.
Eating more veggies, fruits, and whole grains while cutting back on fat didn’t make much of a difference in reducing heart disease risk for women after menopause—so we might need smarter or more specific diets to really help.
Women after menopause who eat less bad fats and more veggies and fruits might have a lower risk of heart disease, but the data isn’t strong enough to say for sure.
For women after menopause, eating a bit more veggies, fruits, and whole grains didn’t lower their risk of heart attacks or strokes, even though their bad cholesterol and blood pressure got a little better.
Eating less fat and more veggies, fruits, and grains didn’t help postmenopausal women avoid heart attacks, strokes, or other heart problems over more than 8 years.
For women after menopause, eating a bit more veggies, fruits, and grains didn’t lower their risk of heart disease, even though some small health markers got a little better.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.